Mar 30, 2015

So the ICC World Cup is finally over. Firstly, congrats to Team Australia for the big win! Well deserved, no one can deny that!

Personally speaking, the way this World Cup ended, made me more sad than happy. To elaborate more on this, and other aspects, I have divided this blog post in 4 parts. One part per semi-finalist. Will speak of my thoughts on each of the teams which made to the semi-finals, including the one I supported, India. Hope you enjoy this read!

Thoughts on India's exit

This was truly sad, for myself, and I'm guessing for Indian fans all over. I honestly didn't expect the Men in Blue to be rolled over by the Aussies, to end up being "thrashed" so badly in the semis.

All that having been said, we had a fantastic World Cup! Kudos to the whole Team and Management for having played so beautifully till the semi-final! Our batsmen were good, and the bowlers were excellent. Fielding from the Indians was also brilliant, we were clearly among the best fielding sides! And extra points for MS Dhoni. His captaincy was superb, and his tactics looked very "aggressive". I think without a leader like him in charge, we wouldn't have played so well to reach the semi-finals! (Click on the button to continue reading)

And brownie points for him, for having dismissed the rumors of retiring! I want to see him play a bit more... call me greedy, but I seriously want him to lead us again in the 2019 World Cup in England! I doubt it will be the case... but if it happens, I will be super happy!

Be proud, Team India. It was a loss, but the journey was still a good one. You have made a nation proud!

Thoughts on South Africa's exit

This one was a real tearjerker. I would seriously be ready to give a very angry stare to anybody who calls the South Africans 'chokers'. They did a great job in this World Cup, and AB De Villiers led by example! He too did his nation proud!

As much as I was excited for New Zealand, I was equally sad for South Africa. Never had such mixed feelings during a cricket match.

I actually wrote an answer on Quora regarding South Africa's exit. You can check it out here:

Thoughts on New Zealand's loss in the final

They really played like Champions throughout the tournament! For me this was the team that deserved to lift the Cup! I was really sad to see how they lost so badly against Australia in the final. It was probably the only time they really failed... and the only time that they couldn't afford to, ironically!

But then again, I am a huge fan of Brendon McCullum... he's just someone you can't hate! He was brilliant, as a player AND as a captain. And a big salute to the team, they played like real winners, barring the performance in the final.

Thoughts on Australia lifting the Cup

Personally, I was not too happy about the Aussies winning yet another World Cup... but I grudgingly admit that they played amazingly, and well... I must say that was a brilliant knock by Clarke, he signs off from a great career in style! Well done Australia (and please let someone else win next time, for a change! Just kidding..)

Final Word

So this World Cup is now over... despite the ending which didn't go my way, I still felt this was among the best World Cups that ever happened! And I hope they won't reduce the number of teams for the next edition... the minnows were amazing this time, and we should be able to promote this sport to more countries! Not make this only "exclusive to the sides that play better". We had a Champions Trophy for that... (and I'm now wondering the following: Why did they cancel it? If they want the Top Sides to play exclusively, they can do so in the CT. The World Cup should be... well... a "World Cup"!)

The fun may be over for now... until it starts again in less than 9 days from now! IPL 2015 is soon here! And I can't wait for it! My loyalties remain unchanged... Chennai Super Kings are the first side I support entirely.

And well, the next World Cup is in India... the World Twenty20! Moreover, it's happening next year, which is not that far away! Let's hope the good form of Team India remains till then.

On a concluding note, this is looking to be a promising season of cricket. We first saw players fighting each other for the World Cup... now we will see some of these players from different nations coming together in one same IPL team, playing together for that trophy. Isn't cricket just an amazing sport?

Hope you enjoyed this read, and as always, please leave your feedback below, if you have anything to comment on what I wrote! Feedback is most welcome! :)

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